Dual US/Canadian citizen attending McGill

[13962Girl]

I have dual US/Canadian citizenship, born and raised in California and have never lived in Canada. I will be starting my first year of undergrad at McGill this fall, and am trying to determine whether or not it makes sense for me to try and obtain Quebec residency. If I am able to do so, the immediate benefit would be that I would pay the Quebec resident tuition, which would save me approx. $3700 per year in tuition. Looking down the line, I believe it would also make me an in-province applicant for McGill Med School. However, I am concerned that somehow or another by having myself designated as a resident of Quebec, that I might jeopardize my standing to apply to US med schools as a US applicant, rather than a Canadian one. In that case, I don't think it would be worth saving $20,000 over 4 years and increasing my odds at one medical school, but decreasing my odds at dozens of others. Any advice?

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[MeowMix]

If you have dual citizenship, canadian med schools will consider you to be a canadian applicant and you may not apply as a us applicant. This is unfortunate bc often your chances of getting in are better as a us applicant.

US schools will continue to consider you a us applicant, but how they determine in vs out of state is highly variable. They do not know or care about your status in quebec; all they care about is your status in the us. As a californian, you will be part of a very large and competitive pool of in state applicants for med schools, which can be good or bad depending on how amazing your academic record is.

The good news is that you have plenty of time and everything is reversible. Do what you can to save money now. Enjoy life in montreal. Learn to speak French, if you don't already. If you still want to go to med school in a couple of years, figure out how to set up your living situation to optimize your chances for getting in to med school.

 

[mlw03]

So long as you're a US resident you can apply as such. But like Meow said, Cali is incredibly competitive. You seem to be in the enviable position of being able to apply to both US and Canadian schools as an applicant of that country, just giving you more options. Agree with the recommendation to work on the French if you're going to be in med school there; regardless of any official requirements, a good doctor has to be able to get a good history from their patients. This is coming from someone who went to med school in Florida and was not fluent in Spanish.

 

[medicalhobo]

If you have dual citizenship, canadian med schools will consider you to be a canadian applicant and you may not apply as a us applicant. This is unfortunate bc often your chances of getting in are better as a us applicant.

It is not easier to get into Canadian medical schools as a US applicant-- its definitely easier if you're a Canadian resident, especially if you a resident in the same province of the school. These schools heavily favor in-province applicants.

http://i.imgur.com/aza9C.jpg <--- its a bit old but it gets the point across